A teaching from Lee Standing Bear Moore as given to
his friend Takatoka

The night sky was as big, clear and open as I had ever
seen. Shooting stars occasionally drew my eyes to a particular part of
the galaxy as sounds of the night forest around us gave forth in a
magnificent symphony of life. Tree frogs, crickets, the owl and other
night creatures were singing their beautiful songs in unison with the swaying
branches of the standing people. Grandfather Bear had wandered down off the
sacred mountain sometime after midnight and now we sat by a small fire in the
early morning dampness in the
sacred circle at Manataka. He sat silently staring for a long while, maybe
contemplating the vastness of the universe, or the intricate pattern on the
box turtle at his feet.

As the fire settled down and its smoke was not more
than a wisp floating upward, Grandfather looked at me and said,

"Knowing
things does not come from learning things, it comes from remembering."

I started to offer a comment, but
decided to let it ride to see where his line of thinking was going. After
so many years of listening to his words, I learned to always wait for
the other shoe to drop. Grandfather is a master of timing. That is,
after presenting a thought or idea, he allows sufficient time to pass for the
recipient to chew the bread before offering a moral of the story, a punch line,
or a special lesson.

As we sat in silence, I noted to myself that
Grandfather Bear is looking better these days. His breathing is longer and
deeper after years of struggle with heart and lung issues acquired
during the war. His color is good too, more tanned after an active summer.
He grew a white beard over the summer. It is hard to tell if his moods are
any better or not. He is a grumpy old bear. What more do you want?

He loves to sit in silence and in darkness at the sacred places of
Manataka.

"God's voice is silence,"Bear sometimes reminds us.

On this night, I hoped he might be more talkative.
After an hour or more of sitting quietly, Grandfather signaled that he was ready
to speak by giving me a quick glance and a nod. It is our habit to always
talk eye-to-eye so I turned my body to face him. I took out my
journal and wrote the date and time at the top of a blank page. Not
everything Lee Standing Bear Moore says is written down. Whenever he holds
up his left hand, it is a signal to stop writing. By the time I was
prepared and settled down, he was using his cane to toy with a colorful carpet
bag at this feet nestled next to a turtle. The bag is made from a rug with Indian design
and holds all
sorts of stones, herbals, tobacco, ceremonial medicines, necklaces and tiny
effigies. Grandfather has never shown me what all is inside his bag, so I
only know from seeing the things that are taken out and used on occasion.

"Knowing comes from a place deep within us,"
Grandfather Bear began.

"The Knowing is miraculous and
instantaneous. It is old wisdom that remains inside us since the
time of conception like tiny sleeping seeds. When it is needed by world,
the seeds sprout giving birth to what seems to be a new idea or solution to a
new problem but, in fact the seed comes from a long line or root of Knowing
that is present at the time of our birth and long before."

Do you mean that humans are born with higher forms of
knowledge that cannot be learned through the course of a lifetime?

"Yes and no. Yes, the Creator of All Things
gives humans special forms of higher Knowing that is buried within the DNA and
inside our souls and hearts -- that cannot be learned from another human.
Other forms of knowledge can be learned by people who are
given advantages of training, education, exposure, experience and spiritual
orientation. The realization of the Knowing is locked within until
it is remembered at the right moment in time."

What evidence is there to prove that humans have
higher forms of knowledge within their DNA at birth?

"Clearly there is ample evidence to show that
humans do not possess higher Knowing at birth. We are ignorant, helpless beings at
birth. Until the invention of the Roman library in 500 BC and books
that came along in 1041 AD man passed along very little information from generation to
generation -- it appears that humans do not retain a great deal of information
from one age to the next. A significant amount of information was passed
along only when information was organized and a concerted effort was made to
recall the information. Until the modern era, humans
retained very little of their over-all experience after thousands of years of
existence.

There is more
evidence to prove the opposite -- that knowledge is only propagated from
generation to generation by means of training and education and man has a memory
not significantly longer than an ape. But, we are not talking about
information or knowledge. We are talking about the Knowing -- and that is
a different matter.

"All animals are born with instinctual gifts
relevant to their environment and behavior. But, humans who may lack some
qualities of in-bred instinct, possess at birth a Knowing that transcends mere instinct.
On the bottom end of these Knowings are creative reasoning and
conceptualization and moving up the scale is realization and spiritual knowledge.

There is ample
evidence to prove the presence of these types of knowledge found deep within the
human psychic at birth. Humans were given this knowledge by the Creator,
it is transported and
stored by the DNA throughout life and beyond to succeeding generations --
all without the necessity of training and education in these
areas. It is a Knowing that all humans are given as a gift."

"The realization of this Knowing
does not come for everyone at the same time. In fact, many humans never do
reacquire the ancient wisdom within. Some will experience a only a quick flash
of it at a critical moment in their lives. And a fortunate few will come
to a point their lives where they have worked hard and climbed high to see past
the veils of distraction and distortion and find the keys to opening the portals
to remembering."

Moving past the veils of self (ego),
social, psychological and environmental (worldly) distraction requires intense
focus. Many times, this level of concentration or focus can only be
achieved in a spiritual trance. We view this as a purification process,
shedding one layer of the veil at at time, until clarity and purity of intent is
achieved.

"Then and only then may humans
realize, take possession and utilize the Knowing -- after remembering -- a
process of calling up the ancient secrets of wisdom and placing them firmly in
present consciousness. The Knowing cannot be learned from a book or other
people. These things cannot be taught -- even by the wisest of spiritual
elders. The Knowing can only be remembered."

Why do some humans live their
entire lives without realizing the depth of the Knowing within themselves?

"First, it is a matter of distraction. We are
distracted by the constant supervision of our parents, siblings, teachers,
preachers, neighbors, friends and society in general who must and do teach us
everything we need to know about everything. We are never taught how to
remember because the assumption is that babies know absolutely nothing about
anything. As young humans we are regimented to many varied forms and
systems of training and education. Our heads are filled with information
coming from other humans and never is the opportunity given for the child to
simply absorb lessons of the environment and remember the depth and breadth of
knowledge contained in the DNA. In this age of mass media and computer
information, chances for a child to connect to their primal-self are
nearly non-existent.

"Second, it is also a matter of
orientation. We are never told there is this special Knowing within us. We are never
shown ways to access this Knowing. Instead our heads are crammed with
rules, regulations, do and don'ts, and the dogma and doctrine of many dead and
dying generations. We are oriented to believe that the cup of our life
began to be filled at the time of birth by other humans, and that is the
direction we move for the rest of our days. How can one remember anything,
if there is not a belief that Creator gave us special knowledge at the moment of
conception? If we deny it exists, there is no way most people will ever begin to
explore the depth of their memory and find the well of wisdom bequeathed by untold
generations of ancestors before them.

"Third, it is also a
matter of convenience and commitment. Most people are not motivated to
discover things about themselves and the universe if the road to get there is
not well lit. When they discover there are no short cuts or window
shopping along the way, they balk like a mule. They want to know the
pay-off in advance.

How do you remember the
Knowing Grandfather?

"Oh my goodness. Becky Owl
Woman often tell friends that Bear would forget his head if it were not
attached. Bear does not remember things well. We do tend to forget
things easily, including the dark events of the past and the darker side of
people. Forgetfulness is a way of surviving for the Bear, so it is not
such a bad thing.

You are teasing us now.
You know what I mean. How are we to know how to remember the Knowing deep
within us? Is there a technique or tool you use?

"There is a difference between what
is learned and the Knowing. Things taught by humans are internalized,
stored and processed by the brain in neat little electronic compartments.
To access this type of information we use one or more levels or pathways of
memory. There are useful recall techniques access this type of
information. Cognitive and recall skills can be practiced and improved
over time and neat little memory tricks such as mnemonic devices can be
employed. For example, the word "HOMES" is a mnemonic device to help
people remember the named of the five Great Lakes, Huron, Ontario, Michigan,
Erie, Superior. But, the ways of recalling the Knowing are different.

The Knowing is
something like intuition. That is, intuition is the ability to acquire
knowledge without inference or the use of reason, but there is a vast well of
Knowing that goes beyond intuition. Like the Knowing, intuition
gives us ideas or thoughts that cannot be justified, but intuition is limited to
the confines of human thought and reasoning and does not necessarily move beyond
itself. However, it is said that intuition is a binder between human
knowledge and higher spiritual knowledge and appears a flashes of insight and
therefore moves freely between earthly world and the spiritual world in the same
way of the Knowing.

The Knowing does not
speak English, or any particular language. The Knowing are images and
movement that are not easily translated. The Knowing is an understanding
that flows like water or a cloud in the wind... therefore, we cannot use
tricks on our self to remember. The Knowing is when our personal
vibrations of movement, sound and color are in balance. Knowing is the
connection, the sacred connection between our inner-being and the Spirits of the
Creator. We do not control or decide when or what the Knowing will
bring. It happens by Grace. It only comes to the surface of
our consciousness after the flow is completed between the tiny seed within us
and the power and spirit of the Creator.

How does the
Knowing relate to American Indian beliefs?

There are many ways the Knowing
is acknowledged among the people. Even though indigenous people are spread
over thousands of miles from the South, Central and North, there are common
ideas and a Knowing that we all possess. This Knowing tells us what is
right and wrong. We did not need a written code of laws or a multitude
clerics to preach to us. We know the Original Instructions given
by the Creator to all races of mankind because they are embedded inside us as
part of the Knowing . As tiny babies, we understand the Universal
agreements of Creation and spend the rest of our lives living that reality.
You can see the spirit of the Knowing contained in our ceremonies and daily
lives. It is part of who we are as a race of people.

What is the
Knowing, can you define it?

The Knowing is seeing the future. It
is seeing the path and pointing the way. It is seeing time fold back on
itself and reveal a disagreement that must be corrected. It is a
deep wisdom that reflects the Universal agreements man has with all of creation.
The Knowing is immediately accepted 'as is' because it is truth. When the
Knowing begins to flow from somewhere deep within, there is an understanding
that quietly flows upward in our consciousness and falls out in conversation.

What do you do with the
Knowing?

We do not know most of the time what
to do. We are grateful for blessing, regardless of how harsh or out of
place it may seem, but we also know that it is acceptable and right to ask for
help in being shown what to do.

Who do you ask?

The Great Mystery. The Silent
One. The Creator of All Things. God of Heaven and Earth. We
pray. We perform ceremony and pray some more. Yes, the Knowing comes
from our ancestors in seeds planted within us thousands and hundreds of years
ago, but it is only the Creator who can tell us how the Knowing is to be used.

Would you say you have the gift of wisdom and Knowing?

Grandfather
Standing Bear looked from side to side, put a half-snarl on his face and began
to rummage through his rug bag. After a while he looked up and said,
"Nope, sorry we must have forgotten it at left it at home
in my other bag."

Grandpa Bear then stood up, patted me on the shoulder
and gave me a tiny object that I could not identify at the moment. As we
walked along the path leading to the parking lot we passed under a lamplight and
I stole a glance at the small object in my hand. I stopped and looked
closer, but I still could not tell what it was. A small ring?

What is this Grandfather? I
asked.

Smiling, Bear glanced at the object in my hand and said,
"It is a gift from our friend the Turtle. He worked very hard on it the
whole time we sat in the circle. With his strong jaws, he chewed and
chewed on a broken lace from my moccasin until he fashioned this most beautiful
gift -- a leather circle. It is part of his Knowing."